unnatural disaster coal

1) Explain the following: Coal an Unnatural Disaster? An unnatural coal disaster is one caused by human error or negligence, there have been many unnatural coal disasters from past to present such as Turtle Mountain in Canada .Normal erosion due to weather changes played a part in this unnatural disaster but the biggest factor was inadequate support beams .which in turn caused gigantic slab of limestone rock weighing 75millions tons broke free and crashed into the town below mowing over homes and killing 76 people. The Tennessee valley disaster, Tennessee Valley slurry impoundment burst freeing approximately 500 million gallons of toxic ash into the country side and the surrounding rivers and lake, this spill was forty times larger than the Exxon Valdez in1989 Tennessee is still trying to recover from this spill.

2) What are the benefits and consequences of the use of coal as a fossil fuel? A major advantage of fossil fuels is their capacity to generate huge amounts of electricity in just a single location. When coal is used in power plants, they are very cost effective. Coal is also in abundant supply. Power stations that make use of fossil fuel which can be constructed in almost any location. This is possible as long as large quantities of fuel can be easily brought to the power plants. Consequences

Pollution is a major disadvantage of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel releases greenhouse gasses (GHG) carbon dioxide when burned thereby causing a greenhouse effect. This is also the main contributory factor to the global warming experienced by the earth today. Power stations that utilize coal need large amounts of fuel. In other words, they not only need truckloads but trainloads of coal on a regular basis to continue operating and generating electricity. This only means that coal-fired power plants should have reserves of coal in a large area near the plants location. The present and...